US Ambassador Richard Norland
April 23, 2020
Assalamou Alaykom
Ramadan Kareem
I would like to express my warmest greetings to the Libyan people on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.
May this month of blessings bring joy, peace and prosperity to you and your family.
Unfortunately, many Libyan families are suffering right now and I hear your plea for the fighting to finally come to an end.
I hear your calls for an end to months of shelling, forced displacements, water and power shortages, salary delays, and rising prices on the essential goods that all Libyan families depend on.
Fighting and division have claimed the lives of scores of innocent civilians, shattered the aspiration of youth, taken away the livelihoods of families, and crippled Libya’s oil-based economy.
I’m personally saddened by the recent intensity in fighting. Particularly, the blatant shelling of medical facilities, as health authorities struggle to mount a national response to the COVID-19 threat.
In light of the urgency, I’m renewing my call – and that of others – for Libya’s leadership and their external backers to recommit to a humanitarian truce and silence their guns in honor of the holy month of Ramadan. The LNA should stop its bombardment and the GNA should reciprocate by standing down its fighters.
Give all Libyans the opportunity to celebrate and observe this month with their families, free from fear, turmoil, and suffering. Give them the hope of a political solution to this conflict.
I urge Libya’s leaders to dedicate this month to embodying the true meaning of Ramadan, in the spirit of forgiveness, unity, compassion and peace.
Shukran and Ramadan Mubarak.